EN 
DE A departure to vibrant times with a color explosion
Schwabing and Art Nouveau
Impressions
Description:
Come along on a journey to the late 19th century! Among the fantastic Art Nouveau facades of Schwabing's side streets, you can immerse yourself in a time when the longing for something new was breaking out!
But what motivated the street artists of that time to develop such colorful counter-designs to the monumental architecture of the city center, which had been tried and tested for decades? How did the new style even get its name? And how can you actually recognize a typical Art Nouveau building?
Despite all the questions, the main thing to remember on this walk is to marvel and enjoy! Such exuberance wasn't always "in vogue," so we can be especially grateful for the treasures that have survived!
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A new wind blew across Europe in the 1890s – in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, indeed, it could be felt throughout Europe, and even here in Munich. Especially in Schwabing, where artists could finally afford studio apartments in the new development surrounding the Academy of Fine Arts, it carried the most bizarre decorations onto the facades: peacocks, swans, monkeys, pharaohs' heads – and all in bright colors! As a long-established architect, one could only laugh at such audacity. But who is surprised by this new-fangled closeness to nature? Towards the end of the 19th century, factory chimneys, railway production, large breweries, and tenement blocks increasingly dominated the appearance of the city.
On this tour, I don't want to deprive you of the people behind these dazzling ideas, whether architects or clients. So let your mind be transported to the bohemian Schwabing, into smoky cabarets where wicked songs are sung against the hypocritical morals of the time. Or behind one of the huge studio windows, where not only men but also women gather around their easels—a sensation at the time! We'll also take a look at the creative Schwabing publishing scene, whose richly illustrated magazines are still legendary today.
Unfortunately, many Art Nouveau facades were lost to wartime destruction, and even later, the delicate stucco elements were not spared from ruin – they fell victim to the prevailing zeitgeist of the postwar years, deemed hopelessly outdated. We will encounter several examples of this on our walk. Fortunately, people are now proud of the achievements of this short-lived era, and some facades have been restored to their former glory. Join me in looking forward to this sight!
At a glance:
The most important things in brief:
Meeting point:
at Elisabethplatz in Schwabing (Tram 18/27/28)
Duration:
Bookable as a 2 or 3-hour tour
Distance:
approx. 2-3 km
Group size:
max. 25 people
Member of the Munich Tourist Guide Association eV
Member of the TIM Tourism Initiative Munich
“Munich has a lot of amazing things to offer, including Grit Ranft, our city guide.
It rained on our second city tour with her, this time through the Art Nouveau buildings in Schwabing. But that didn't matter, because her personal style of narrating facts and anecdotes during the tour captivated us, making us completely absorbed in her storytelling and forgetting everything else. We have rarely experienced a tour guide with such enthusiasm and will try to complete her entire program because it's simply so much fun.„
Gabi and Michael Bernhard, Munich, October 2020
My tips for before and after our tour:
Here you're right in the heart of Schwabing – Leopoldstrasse, Türkenstrasse, Hohenzollernstrasse! Fancy a bite to eat or browsing the charming antique shops for treasures? A visit to the Art Oasis It's always an experience! Anyone who wants to linger in the spirit of the tour can stop by the inn. Old Simple look at the many beautiful photographs from the "good old days".
If you've been inspired by the Art Nouveau artists' connection to nature, then a long stroll through the English Garden is a must. And if you haven't had enough of the theme yet, then head across the Isar to Bogenhausen! Around the same time, the planning there was somewhat more generous, as you can clearly see from the fantastic villas.
Frequently asked questions:
Can a meeting point other than Elisabethplatz be agreed upon?
Which architects’ houses are included in the neighborhood tour?
Can the tour be combined with other tours on this topic?
Still questions?
Write to me or just call me:
Grit Ranft
and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial
phone
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Evaluation
„"Dear Ms. Ranft, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this tour; in fact, we were both thrilled! And that's not just because of the truly fascinating houses you showed us and the many interesting things you told us about them. What impressed us so much was your masterful ability to connect the architecture with (art) history, and more generally, with the period in which these buildings were constructed. But most importantly, you're not only fascinated yourself, but you can so effectively convey this fascination to your guests – and that's always the magic: your own enthusiasm is contagious!"“